StandWithUs Horrified, Grief-Stricken Over Barbaric Murder of Fogel Family

INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY MUST FORCE PATO END INCITEMENT TO HATE AND MURDER JEWS

StandWithUs is horrified and grief-stricken by the savage murder of five members of the Fogel family. Palestinian terrorists slipped into the house while the family slept, stabbed the parents, slashed the throat of 11-year-old Yoav, knifed 3-year-old Elad in the heart, and slit the throat of their three-month-old baby, Hadas. The mother tried to fight back but was murdered. We are heart-broken and mourn with the Fogel family members and the nation of Israel who had to bury an innocent young family because of a vicious and senseless attack.

We are outraged but not surprised by the Palestinians' reaction. Early reports indicate that Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, the military wing of Fatah, the governing party in the West Bank, took credit for the rampage. In Gaza, residents passed out candy and celebrated the massacre of sleeping children and their parents, just as many Palestinians celebrated after the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center, and after civilians were murdered by suicide bombers during the second Intifada.

Hamas claims these murders were justifiable because Israelis live in the West Bank, even though there can be no justification for such a heinous crime. If Palestinian terrorists or the Palestinian governments Hamas and the Palestinian Authority don't like where Israelis live, they should go back to the negotiating table and make joint decisions with Israel about future borders. Their anger about Israeli settlements does not give them a license to condone baby-killing.

Above all, we are horrified by the complicity of the international community and especially of the U.S. and U.S. taxpayers in this murder. Such inhuman Palestinian crimes occur because Palestinian society is not held accountable for systematically inciting hatred of Jews and Israelis, glorifying terrorist murderers as martyrs and heroes, and rampantly spreading anti-Israel and anti-Semitic lies in Palestinian schools, media, mosques, official statements, and public squares. It should be crystal clear that indoctrination and incitement to hate and murder, will only lead to hate and murder.

Last December, PA President Abbas awarded $2,000 to the family of a terrorist who tried to murder Israelis at a checkpoint. The week of the Fogel murders, the PA announced a youth football tournament named after Wafa Idris, a female suicide bomber, and Fatah, the ruling party in the West Bank, held a procession commemorating the suicide bombers from the Deheisheh community in the West Bank. Posters of them are plastered even on the walls of Deheisheh's cultural center.

The Fogels' murderers were indoctrinated by this culture of hate and demonization of Jews. Yet the international community and the U.S. continue funding the Palestinian Authority, without forcing an end to this dangerous propaganda. American taxpayers have been funding the hate indoctrination that led to the Fogel murders. As long as the indoctrination continues, it is only a matter of time before another tragedy occurs.

We urgently call upon the international community and the U.S. government to demand that Palestinians end all incitement to hate and murder Israelis and Jews. There should be zero tolerance for government sponsored hate mongering. All U.S. and international funding should be contingent on the Palestinians eliminating the rhetoric of hate and instead teaching peaceful coexistence and mutual respect.

Everyday that goes by is another lost opportunity to push this critical demand for change and accountability. There can be hope for peace only if peace is taught.

Please send your letters of love and support to the Fogel family, and our StandWithUs Israel office will make the delivery.